How do you like your 5 team divisions?

People tend to have strong opinions about 5 team divisions. Many tournaments love 5 team divisions because each team plays every one else exactly once. And the complete schedule is known to coaches and parents in advance. As a parent, it used to be my favorite division size for exactly that reason.

Until this year (2025).

This summer my kid's team was in a 5 team division. Their team came in second, and qualified as "runners up" for the medals. Except that we didn't find out the final results until 2 hours after their last game. Of course no-one wanted to stick around that long. They never got their medals and the picture.

It was particularly painful as a parent because the team rarely won anything. It was the last game of the season and many players moved on to other clubs after that.

Now I prefer a slightly different format for 5 team divisions. Everyone plays 2 games on Saturday. On Sunday, top 3 teams move on to semi-finals. #4 and #5 play quarter-finals to qualify for semi-finals. Everyone gets guaranteed 3 games. Theoretically #4 or #5 could end up playing 3 games on Sunday if they win their semi-finals (unlikely). Or in the semi-finals you could end up playing the same team that you played before on Saturday.

Despite the shortcomings, I now like this format with playoffs much more than the round robin. Because half the fun of winning a tournament is taking that picture with your teammates and the medals